20 February 2015

Fairest

When I received Fairest
to review, I hesitated. Fairest is a
prequel to the three books in the Lunar
Chronicles (Cinder, Scarlett and Cress) which were already on my personal
‘to buy’ list. Even though the events of Fairest
take place prior to the books I haven’t a read, a prequel’s target audience is those
who’ve read and loved the series. And the dedication agreed. This book is for the readers. The Lunartics.
The fans. I didn’t want to diminish my series reading experience.

So I did the “dip a toe in the water” test. One sentence
was all it took. It won’t be a spoiler to quote the sentence:

She was lying on a burning pyre, hot coals beneath her back.

I challenge any reader not to at least complete the
page. By page-end I cared about Levana’s story. I read on until the book was
finished in just two reading sessions. I’m now twice as eager to read the
series.

Levana is the younger sister, forever destined to
live in the shadow of Channary, who will be queen. Channary is beautiful but Levana
is horribly disfigured by a childhood accident. She lives her life behind a ‘glamour’,
a magically created false appearance.

The ‘glamour’ tempts Levana, and she finds she can
exploit it to satisfy her heart’s desire. More than anything , she wants to be
loved. When Channary unexpectedly dies and Levana becomes regent for baby
Serene, Levana is determined to be a good queen and to rule Lunar well.

But behind the ‘glamour’ is a damaged soul who
ultimately will not let any man, woman or child stand in her way.

The Lunar Chronicles is a modern fairy tale with cleverly
twisted shades of familiar characters and plotlines. Levana is wicked
stepmother, evil queen and royal witch. Like Snow White’s stepmother queen, mirrors
cause her to fly into a rage when they always show her true appearance.

Fairest is a prequel not only to the Lunar Chronicles but the fully-formed evil queen of so many fairy tales.
It begins beyond the wickedness to explore where the evil came from and what
was there before that. Is evil born or made? I found myself questioning my
judgement, unable to determine how I felt about Lavana.